Locking device

ABSTRACT

A locking device comprising a stock provided at one end with a fixed hook having an open side, a bolt slidingly mounted on the stock for movement across the open side of the hook and a pair of jaws mounted on the bolt which are separable when the bolt is withdrawn from the open side of the hook and are movable into engagement by movement of the bolt to a position across the open side of the hook, in which position the ends of the jaws connected to the bolt are concealed within the stock, and a lock for holding the bolt in this latter position.

United States Patent 1191 Emerson [4 July 30, 1974 1 LOCKING DEVICEPrima Examiner-Robert L. Wolfe 7 1 2 P. E 71 M 6] nvemor g i figg i 021lgrlborough Attorney, Agent, or Firm-RobertT. Gammons 22 Filed: Dec. 11972 1211 A l N 31125 6 [57] ABSTRACT PP A locking device comprising astock provided at one end with a fixed hook having an open side, a boltslid- [52] US. Cl. 70/14 ingly nted on the sto k for movement across the[51] Int. Cl. E05b 73/00 en ide of the hook and a pair of jaws mountedon Field of Search 16, 18, the bolt which are separable when the bolt iswith- 227, 238 drawn from the open side of the hook and are movable intoengagement by movement of the bolt to a References Clted position acrossthe open side of the hook, in which po- UNITED STATES PATENTS sition theends of the jaws connected to the bolt are 598,203 2/1898 Johnson 70/14concealed Within the Stock and a lock for holding the 1,364,539 1/1921Baker 70/18 x bolt in this latter Positionl,399,782 l2/l92l Mann 43/591,443,009 1/1923 Davis 70/226 11 Clams 3 Drawmg Flgures PAIENIEDJULSOISHsaw 2 or 2 FIGS FIG?

LOCKING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Locking devices especiallyconstructed with jaws which may be placed about the frame of a bicycle,motor bike or a part of a vehicle and jaws adapted to be engaged withthe post of a parking meter or some other fixed post with means forclosing and opening the jaws and forlocking the jaws in closed positionare shown in such U.S. Pats. 1,343,870, 1,477,777 and 1,443,009. A lockembodying a stock having an open hook at one end and a bar slidinglymounted therein provided with jaw such that movement of the bar in onedirection closes the open hook and engages the jaw with an opening inthe stock and in the opposite direction opens the hook and disengagesthe jaw from the stock is disclosed in a pulication entitled EverythingAutomotive, Warshawsky & Co., Metropolitan Catalog No. 48, page 74, 1970under the title Stop Car Theft with a Gear Shift Lever and SteeringWheel Lock and in an advertisement of Kokusan Kinzoku Kogyo Co. Ltd.,Tokyo, Japan, manufacturer of the lock. This invention has for itspurpose an improved locking device for the aforesaid purposes which isof simpler and less expensive construction and especially designed toresist unauthorized removal.

SUMMARY As herein illustrated, the locking device comprises a stockcontaining an opening at one end, a hook at the other end having an openside, a bolt slidingly mounted in the stock for movement from a positionin which one end is disposed across the open side of the hook and theother end withdrawn into the opening to a position in which the one endis withdrawn from the open side of the hook and the other end extendsfrom the opening in the stock, a pair of jaws mounted at one end to theother end of the bolt movable relative to each other when the one end ofthe bolt is withdrawn from the open side of the hook and the other endextended, said jaws being movable into engagement with each other bymovement of the bolt into the position in which the one end is disposedacross the open side of the hook and the other end withdrawn into saidopening at the one end of the stock, and means on the stockinterengageable with the bolt when the latter is in said position acrossthe open side of the hook to lock the bolt in said position with thejaws interengaged. The hook has a bill at its distal end which containsan opening with which the end of the bolt is adapted to be interengagedwhen disposed across the open side thereof to prevent inserting animplement therebetween to force the bolt away from the hook. One of thejaws is fixed and the other is pivoted and there is a spring biasing thepivoted jaw away from the fixed jaw so that when the bolt is extendedthe movable jaw will automatically separate from the fixed jaw. The endsof the jaws attached to the bolt are drawn into the opening at the oneend of the stock when the one end of the bolt is disposed across theopen side of the hook and hence are inaccessible. There is a pin on thebolt, a latch pivotally mounted on the stock for engagement with the pinwhen the bolt is in a position crossing the open side of the jaw and thelock means is operable to hold the latch engaged with the pin. The jawshave at their distal ends interengageable overlapping portions whichprevent placing an implement therebetween to force them open.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the locking device in one form in itslocking position;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the device in its unlockedposition;

FIG. 3 is a top view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side view of an alternative form of the locking device inits locking position;

FIG. 6 is a view corresponding to FIG. 5 showing the locking device inits unlocked position;

FIG. 7 is a top view of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 8 is a section taken on the line 8-8 of FIG. 5.

Referring to the drawings the locking device comprises a stock 10, atone end of which there is a hook 12 having an open side 14 and bill 12aat its distal end. A bolt 16 is slidably mounted in the stock formovement of one end 18 across the open side of the hook and jaws 20 and22 mounted on the other end of the bolt which are interengaged when theone end of the bolt is disposed across the open side of the hook.

The stock 10 in one form is comprised of sheet metal bent up to form asubstantially rectangular structure having spaced parallel side walls24-24 and top and bottom walls 26 and 28. The hook 12 is formed ofintegral portions of the side walls 24-24 and the top wall 26. Thestructure thus formed has a substantially rectangular passage Iengthwisethereof and the bolt 18 is mounted interiorly thereof on the bottom wallbelow a keeper plate 30 secured to the side walls in spacedparallelrelation to the bottom wall. The hook 12 has at its distal end abill 12a comprised of portions of the side walls 24-24 between which theend of the bolt may be thrust beneath a lug 34 fastened to the end wallof the bill. The end of the bill contains a slot 36 and the bolt has onit a pin 38 adapted, when the bolt is thrust into the bill, to becomeinterengaged with the slot.

The opposite end of the bolt has fastened to it a post 40 for supportingthe jaws at that end. The proximal end 42 of the jaw 22 is welded orotherwise fastened to the post and the proximal end 44 of theother jaw20 is pivotally mounted on the post by means of a pin 46. A spring 48connected to the proximal end 44 of the jaw and a pin 50 on the postbiases the jaw 20 to an open position when unconstrained. The distalends of the jaws have offset portions 52, 54 which are adapted to haveoverlapping engagement when the jaws are brought into engagement.

As thus constructed with the bolt withdrawn from across the open side ofthe hook 12 and with the jaws 20 and 22 separated from each other thehook 12 may be engaged with a part X which may be the post of a parkingmeter or some other fixed structure whereupon the open jaws 20 and 22may be placed about a part Y comprising part of the vehicle. The bolt isthen moved longitudinally within the stock to dispose the part 18 of ito use an implement to force the bolt out of engagement with the hook.

The bolt has on it a pin 52 and a latch 54 is pivotally mounted withinthe stock in a position such as to be engaged with the pin 52 when thebolt is moved to the closed position. A lock assembly 56 is mounted inthe stock above the latch which is operable, by movement of the plunger58, to engage the latch with the pin. Retraction of the plunger 58 fromthe latch frees the latter which is spring-biased upwardly so that thebolt may be moved to its open position.

A modified form of the locking device is shown in FIGS. 5 to 8inclusive, wherein the stock 10 is a solid block of metal of rectangularcross-section having the hook 12 formed integral with one end andcontaining at its opposite end an opening 60 and longitudinally thereofat the lower side a passage 62 of rectangular shape, one end of whichopens into the opening 60. The bolt 16 is slidably disposed in thelongitudinal passage 62 and the post 40 on the bolt is designed to becontained within the opening 60 when the bolt is moved to a positionacross the open side 14 of the hook. The bill 12a at the distal end ofthe hook 12 contains an opening 64 for receiving the end of the bolt andthe stock has recesses 66 and 68 at its top and bottom sides forinterengageably receiving shoulders 70 and 72 on the jaws 20 and 22 whenthe post and ends of the jaws mounted thereon are drawn into the opening60. As illustrated in FIG. 6 the jaw 22 is integral with the post 40 andthe jaw 20 is pivotally mounted thereon by means of a pin 46. The boltcontains an opening 74 and there is a lock assembly 56 mounted in apassage 78 formed in the stock which has a plunger 58 adapted to bemoved into engagement with the opening 74 when the bolt is moved to itsclosed position to hold the bolt in said position. A pin 80 fixed in thestock and engaged with the slot 82 in the bolt guides the bolt.

The locking device shown in FIGS. 5, 6, 7 and 8 is used in the samefashion as that shown in FIGS. 1 to 4.

It is within the scope of the invention to place either end of thelocking device around a fixed post and the other about the object to besecured.

As herein illustrated, the locking device in the one form is comprisedof sheet metal and in the other is machined from a block of metal.However, it is within the scope of the invention to make the lockingdevice of any material suitable to the particular use for which thelocking device is to be employed. Additionally, the locking assembly 56can be key operated, combination operated or otherwise operated.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purposeof illustration only and that this invention includes all modificationsand equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A locking device comprising a stock containing an opening at one end,a hook at the other end having an open side, a bolt slidingly mounted onthe stock for movement from a position in which one end is disposedacross the open side of the hook and the other end withdrawn into theopening at the one end, to a position-in which the one end is withdrawnfrom the open side of the hook and the other end extends from theopening at the one end of the stock, a pair of jaws mounted at oneend-to the other end of the bolt movable relative to each other when theone end of the bolt is witherawn from the open side of the hook and theother end extended, said jaws being movable into engagement with eachother by movement of the bolt to the position in which the one end isdisposed across the open side of the hook and the other end withdrawninto said opening at the one end of the stock, and means in the stockinterengageable with the bolt when the latter is in said position acrossthe open side of the hook to lock the bolt in said position with thejaws interengaged.

2. A lock according to claim 1, wherein the hook has a bill at itsdistal end containing an opening with which the end of the bolt isadapted to be interengaged when disposed across the open side of thehook.

3. A lock according to claim 2, wherein said opening is disposed at theinner side of the bill so that the end of the bolt is inaccessible whenengaged therewith.

4. A locking device according to claim 1, wherein one of the jaws isfixed to the bolt and the other is pivotally mounted thereon.

5. A locking device according to claim 4, wherein the pivotally mountedjaw is spring-biased away from the fixed jaw.

6. A locking device according to claim 1, wherein a post is mounted onthe other end of the bolt, one jaw is rigidly fixed thereto and theother jaw is pivotally mounted thereon, and wherein when the one end ofthe bolt is drawn into the opening at the one end of the stock the fixedand pivoted ends of the jaws are situated within said opening and thepost closes the opening.

7. A locking device according to claim 1, wherein thereis a pin on thebolt, a latch pivotally mounted on the stock for engagement with the pinwhen the bolt is in the position across the open side of the hook andthe jaws withdrawn into the opening at the one end of the stock, andthere is a lock operable to depress and hold said latch engaged withsaid pin.

8. A locking device according to claim 1, wherein the stock containslengthwise thereof a longitudinally extending passage in which the boltis slidingly disposed.

9. A locking device according to claim 1, wherein the stock comprises asolid block with one end of which the hook is integral, said blockcontaining at its other end said opening, and a passage longitudinallythereof in which the bolt is slidably mounted.

10. A locking device according to claim 1, wherein the jaws have attheir distal ends interengageable overlapping portions.

11. A locking device according to claim 1, wherein the stock iscomprised of sheet metal formed to provide spaced parallel side wallsand top and bottom walls, and wherein the hook is integrally formed fromthe side walls and the top wall.

1. A locking device comprising a stock containing an opening at one end,a hook at the other end having an open side, a bolt slidingly mounted onthe stock for movement from a position in which one end is disposedacross the open side of the hook and the other end withdrawn into theopening at the one end, to a position in which the one end is withdrawnfrom the open side of the hook and the other end extends from theopening at the one end of the stock, a pair of jaws mounted at one endto the other end of the bolt movable relative to each other when the oneend of the bolt is witherawn from the open side of the hook and theother end extended, said jaws being movable into engagement with eachother by movement of the bolt to the position in which the one end isdisposed across the open side of the hook and the other end withdrawninto said opening at the one end of the stock, and means in the stockinterengageable with the bolt when the latter is in said position acrossthe open side of the hook to lock the bolt in said position with thejaws interengaged.
 2. A lock according to claim 1, wherein the hook hasa bill at its distal end containing an opening with which the end of thebolt is adapted to be interengaged when disposed across the open side ofthe hook.
 3. A lock according to claim 2, wheRein said opening isdisposed at the inner side of the bill so that the end of the bolt isinaccessible when engaged therewith.
 4. A locking device according toclaim 1, wherein one of the jaws is fixed to the bolt and the other ispivotally mounted thereon.
 5. A locking device according to claim 4,wherein the pivotally mounted jaw is spring-biased away from the fixedjaw.
 6. A locking device according to claim 1, wherein a post is mountedon the other end of the bolt, one jaw is rigidly fixed thereto and theother jaw is pivotally mounted thereon, and wherein when the one end ofthe bolt is drawn into the opening at the one end of the stock the fixedand pivoted ends of the jaws are situated within said opening and thepost closes the opening.
 7. A locking device according to claim 1,wherein there is a pin on the bolt, a latch pivotally mounted on thestock for engagement with the pin when the bolt is in the positionacross the open side of the hook and the jaws withdrawn into the openingat the one end of the stock, and there is a lock operable to depress andhold said latch engaged with said pin.
 8. A locking device according toclaim 1, wherein the stock contains lengthwise thereof a longitudinallyextending passage in which the bolt is slidingly disposed.
 9. A lockingdevice according to claim 1, wherein the stock comprises a solid blockwith one end of which the hook is integral, said block containing at itsother end said opening, and a passage longitudinally thereof in whichthe bolt is slidably mounted.
 10. A locking device according to claim 1,wherein the jaws have at their distal ends interengageable overlappingportions.
 11. A locking device according to claim 1, wherein the stockis comprised of sheet metal formed to provide spaced parallel side wallsand top and bottom walls, and wherein the hook is integrally formed fromthe side walls and the top wall.